As we wind down 2014, let’s refresh your science trivia knowledge and brighten your eyes and brain with a list of fun facts and gorgeous images from USGS.

We’ve picked out a few snapshots and videos from the 2014 year of USGS science — a tiny fraction of all the new discoveries, earthly phenomena, and new publications we worked on this past year. It’s impossible to encompass all that we survey for our nation on this planet and beyond, but we hope you enjoy this little visual morsel before we head into another new year. So let’s get started!

1. Hawaiʻi Hot Lava

After slowly moving downslope from Kīlauea Volcano’s East Rift Zone since June 27, 2014, this active lava flow in Hawaiʻi reached the town of Pāhoa just before Halloween, destroying roads, a cemetery, and private property in this community. Amazingly, the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō vent began erupting in 1983 and has continued erupting essentially nonstop for more than 31 years, though this recent flow was the first to threaten homes since 2012. In this photo from October 26, 2014, a USGS geologist is mapping the margin of the active lava flow in an open field west of the town of Pāhoa; the lava has continued its advance as of December. (Photo by USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory)

Stay tuned to the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory in January 2015 when they host the annual “Volcano Awareness Month” with many public education events on the Island of Hawaiʻi.

If you can stand the heat, study geology! USGS is responsible for issuing “timely warnings” of potential volcanic hazards to emergency-management authorities and to the populace affected. In this photo, a USGS researcher is taking a temperature measurement on a sluggish channel eddy on Kīlauea Volcano in 1984. The research in Hawaiʻi is just one of many projects overseen by the USGS Volcano Hazards Program, which monitors active and potentially active volcanoes, assesses their hazards, responds to volcanic crises, and conducts research on how volcanoes work.

If you’ve been following USGS on Instagram in 2014, then you’ve already seen this crazy classic photo we posted in August as part of the “Throwback Thursday” meme. Follow us on our social media accounts like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook to keep up with our science photos and videos — as well as glimpses from the past. (Photo by P.W. Lipman/USGS)

Forget action movies with computer graphics — major earthquakes are a real phenomenon, and they impact real communities across our nation. March 2014 marked the 50th anniversary of the Great Alaska Earthquake, a magnitude 9.2 event that shifted land downward by 8 feet and upward as much as 38 feet in some locations. USGS scientists were immediately at the frontlines in 1964 studying this catastrophic earthquake — which led to some groundbreaking changes in geologic theories and paved the foundation for our current research and monitoring efforts of earthquakes in the United States.

Premiered in January, our documentary video “The Great Alaska Earthquake,” interviews those same USGS scientists and reflects on the scientific and natural hazard response lessons learned from 1964. (Film directed by Stephen Wessells/USGS)

In July 2014, USGS updated the U.S. National Seismic Hazard Maps, which reflect the best and most current understanding of where future earthquakes will occur, how often they will occur, and how hard the ground will likely shake as a result. Along with other data, the updates review new information on East Coast earthquakes, new California faults, and human-induced earthquakes, and helps local governments and communities improve public safety, building design, and insurance practices. (Map by USGS Geologic Hazards Science Center)

Earthquakes pose significant hazards to 75 million Americans in 39 States. The USGS has responsibility for recording and reporting earthquake activity nationwide, and also tracks earthquakes worldwide. And while citizens, emergency responders, and engineers rely on the USGS for accurate and timely information on earthquake events, USGS also relies on you, the public — whenever you fill out the Did You Feel It survey online — which provides valuable data on earthquakes to our scientists!

If you’re admiring the glow of LED tree lights or watching your favorite football team on your LED television this winter season, you have yttrium to thank for that. Named in the 1700s after the Swedish village Ytterby, yttrium is one of the “rare earth elements” very much needed for human technology. The elements yttrium, europium, and terbium are used in fluorescent and LED lighting and televisions.

In May 2014, USGS scientists finished compiling the Geochemical and Mineralogical Maps for the Soils of the Conterminous U.S. — an extraordinary dataset charting the abundance and distribution of chemical elements and minerals — including yttrium — in soils throughout the lower 48 U.S. states at three different soil horizons. This astounding achievement represents a baseline from which any future changes to our soil chemistry may be detected and measured against — information which can improve our nation’s agriculture, land-use planning, and even law enforcement. (Visualization by USGS Central Mineral and Environmental Resources Science Center)

In July 2014, USGS completed a global Geologic Map of Mars for our colleagues at NASA. You heard that right — USGS not only creates maps of Earth, but of other planets, too! Using data from the Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Odyssey probes, this is the best map currently available of the geologic units and landforms on the Red Planet. (Map by USGS Astrogeology Science Center)

Maps like these are the work of the USGS Astrogeology Research Program, which works with NASA and other institutions to select landing sites, create mission maps, and carry out scientific investigations on planetary missions. So the next time you look at a Martian or Lunar map online or in your hands, squint and see if you can find the USGS name in the map credits!

Of course, USGS is best known for training its eye on the changes and rhythms of Planet Earth. Much of this work is thanks to the Landsat Missions, a joint program between USGS and NASA, wherein the USGS operates satellites that help us scan the Earth’s surface for natural and man-made changes. The first satellite, Landsat 1, was launched in 1972, and the latest mission, Landsat 8, celebrated its first birthday on February 11, 2014.

The Landsat missions have now collected over 42 years of global land imagery data. One benefit of this incredible record is the ability to visualize landscape conditions, such as drought impacts to California. The decrease of winter snow cover in the Sierra Nevada Mountains can be seen in this progression of images, captured by Landsat in February 2011, 2013, and 2014. California is heavily dependent on large Sierra Nevada snowpacks to replenish its annual water supply and sustain its vast agricultural lands and diverse ecosystems, and this satellite record underscores the current water shortage plight of the Golden State. (Image by USGS/NASA)

USGS has always been known for its maps, and we are still in the business. However, topographic maps — the essential tool for planners, hikers, emergency response crews, and other professionals and enthusiasts — have caught up with the digital age. US TopoMaps are now delivered in PDF format with geospatial extensions via GeoPDF®, which allows layers of information to be turned on or off, and provides flexible zooming and printing options. Our maps are available as free downloads via the USGS Map Locator at the USGS Store, making it easy for anyone to grab map PDFs for their tablets or smartphones before heading out for some outdoor sightseeing.

And what were the most downloaded US Topo Maps in 2014? At the top is the Washington West quadrangle, featuring the District of Columbia. Other interesting top downloads include Santa Fe, New Mexico; Moab, Utah; Central Park in New York and Yuma in Michigan!

No, USGS isn’t cloning hydrologists or hiring lesser-known X-Men to do science. This is a time-lapse composite photograph from December showing a USGS technician crossing a stream near Thompson Falls, Montana, to measure water flow at different points across a stream transect. This is just one of the many scientific duties of the USGS Water Mission Area. (Photo by Dan Hess/USGS)

USGS provides NOAA’s National Weather Service with stream data for critical flood warnings. Additionally, these stream surveys allow scientists to compute the streamflow of rivers across the United States, and help with fish habitat restoration, and other ecosystem studies. Advanced computer models and long-term analyses are of little use without the data collected by technicians and scientists working long, hard days in the field!

USGS operates about 7,400 streamgages around the United States, including this gage photographed in August 2014 in the serene, verdant woods of Little Back Creek, located within the George Washington National Forest in Virginia. You can find this photo in the USGS Flickr gallery. (Photo Credit: Alan Cressler/USGS)

Streamgages are operated by the USGS National Streamflow Information Program (NSIP), whose mission is to provide real-time streamflow data to local, state, regional, and national leaders, so communities can continuously monitor changes in their local waters, track drought and flood conditions, and manage accordingly.

Investigating natural sources of energy has always been a task for USGS, helping our nation study and assess the location, quantity, and quality of energy resources, including the economic and environmental effects of resource extraction and use. From the exploration assessment of oil and natural gas to habitat restoration after dam removals, USGS has evolved with the changing needs and considerations of energy use in the United States.

In February 2014, USGS unveiled windFarm, an interactive app mapping wind energy turbines around the United States, visualizing a never-before-assembled national dataset for anyone to access online. Knowing the location of individual turbines, their make, model, height, blade area, and capacity offers important information for land and resource managers and scientists studying wildlife-turbine collisions or interactions between wind turbines and ground-based radar. Click on the link to give it a spin!

Not quite, but they are still amazing to look at! This macrophotograph uploaded in November 2014 shows the bee-hind of a “plain sweat bee” (Lipotriches spp.) collected from Australia. This stunning image is part of the collection made by the USGS Native Bee Inventory and Monitoring Program, which develops identification tools for native bee species in the United States and elsewhere. This virtual museum provides a critical service for scientists studying bees around the world, their role in the pollinating our plants and crops, and why they are suffering from declines. (Photo by USGS Native Bee Inventory and Monitoring Program)

USGS also manages similar monitoring programs and information hubs on other species issues, including amphibian decline (Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative) and aquatic invasive species (Nonindigenous Aquatic Species).

This is no footage from a soda pop television commercial: A USGS researcher attached video cameras to four female polar bears as part of a study on how bears expend their energy. In this video cut we posted online in June 2014, you can see polar bears swim in arctic waters, tackle a dead seal meal — and nuzzle with another bear.

Combined with satellite telemetry data, behavior observations like this help scientists understand how much food and rest bears need to survive, and whether environmental change like decreased sea ice are stressing this threatened species. The ongoing research is part of the USGS Changing Arctic Ecosystems Initiative, one of many USGS research programs on wildlife populations, climate change, and land use change. (Footage by USGS; edited by Stephen Wessells/USGS)

Tidepool scenes of vibrantly colored sea stars like this one in San Juan Islands, Washington, could become a rare sight as the Sea Star Wasting Disease spreads. The disease causes sea stars to fall apart and disintegrate within days, and has been killing these sea creatures in droves from Mexico to Alaska. In November 2014, a new Cornell University study with assistance from USGS scientists finally pointed to a prime suspect in the deadly epidemic: a previously unknown virus. (Photo by Kevin Lafferty/USGS)

Research and monitoring of ecosystem trends, water resources, natural hazards, environmental health, and climate change are important elements of the USGS mission, which has grown from its roots in geology and mapping. Today’s USGS looks much different than the one that began 135 years ago under President Rutherford B. Hayes, and the scientific methods and survey scope our agency is charged with today were probably undreamed of in the 1870s — now in all 50 states and U.S. territories, with partner nations around the world, and on other planetary bodies in the Solar System.

So look around in our changing world — you’ll be surprised where you can find USGS!

This year’s top questions mainly focused on hazards, with earthquake questions being the most frequent.

The most commonly visited FAQ was: Can you predict earthquakes? The answer is no, neither the USGS nor any other scientists have ever predicted a major earthquake. They do not know how, and they do not expect to know how any time in the foreseeable future. However based on scientific data, probabilities can be calculated for potential future earthquakes. And USGS is working on an earthquake early warning system that may eventually provide seconds-to-minutes of advance warning.

Seismographs at the U.S. Geological Survey record (1) north-south horizontal, (2) east-west horizontal, and (3) vertical components of the earthquake.

“How do volcanoes erupt?” broke up the list of earthquake questions, with most visits to that FAQ page coming after the eruption of Kileaua Volcano in Hawaii that began on June 27. And then it was back to earthquakes: Can animals predict earthquakes? Although there is anecdotal evidence of animals exhibiting strange behavior, consistent and reliable behavior before a seismic event has not been documented

A key question about safety during an earthquake was also quite frequently visited, with people wondering, “What should I do during an earthquake?” What you should do varies a bit based on where you are, inside, outside, driving, or in a mountainous area. And after an earthquake there are also steps you can take to protect yourself.

And then we were back to volcanoes: What are the different types of volcanoes? And How many active volcanoes are there on Earth? First some basics: The largest and most explosive volcanic eruptions eject tens to hundreds of cubic kilometers of magma onto the Earth’s surface. When such a large volume of magma is removed from beneath a volcano, the ground subsides or collapses into the emptied space, to form a huge depression called a caldera. Some calderas are more than 25 kilometers in diameter and several kilometers deep.

Cinder cones are the simplest type of volcano. They are built from particles and blobs of congealed lava ejected from a single vent.

Some of the Earth’s grandest mountains Mount Fuji in Japan, Mount Cotopaxi in Ecuador, Mount Shasta in California, Mount Hood in Oregon, Mount St. Helens and Mount Rainier in Washington are composite volcanoes — sometimes called stratovolcanoes. They are typically steep-sided, symmetrical cones of large dimension built of alternating layers of lava flows, volcanic ash, cinders, blocks, and bombs and may rise as much as 8,000 feet above their bases.

And how many active volcanoes are there? There are about 1500 potentially active volcanoes, and about 500 have erupted in historical time.

We’ll finish of the most frequently visited FAQs list with: “What is the difference between a tsunami and a tidal wave? Good question. Both are sea waves, but a tsunami and a tidal wave are two different and unrelated phenomenona. A tidal wave is the wave motion of the tides. A tidal wave is a shallow water wave caused by the gravitational interactions between the Sun, Moon, and Earth. Tsunamis are ocean waves triggered by large earthquakes that occur near or under the ocean, volcanic eruptions, submarine landslides, and by onshore landslides in which large volumes of debris fall into the water. Tsunamis cause major damage and loss of life. “Tidal wave” used to be the popular term for what are actually tsunamis.

A drill rig in the Permian Basin of West Texas being used to drill a well which will be hydraulically fractured to produce natural gas. A sound control wall can be seen in the rear of the drill pad to reduce the amount of noise reaching surrounding areas. Photo Credit: Hannah Hamilton, USGS

USGS has over 1400 FAQ pages that answer questions from biology to climate change to mapping to water. At USGS FAQs you can find answers to the less common questions, such as:

Since we started off with “Fracking”, lets end there: Fracking is an informal name for hydraulic fracturing, an oil and gas well development process that typically involves injecting water, sand, and chemicals under high pressure into a bedrock formation via the well. This process is intended to create new fractures in the rock as well as increase the size, extent, and connectivity of existing fractures.

USGS information can be accessed 24/7 on the USGS FAQ site, and there are Science Information Services staff available from 8AM to 8PM (Eastern) to answer questions by phone at 1-888-275-8747 or by webchat, Monday through Friday (but not on federal holidays). Got questions? ASK USGS!

]]>http://www.usgs.gov/blogs/features/usgs_top_story/have-you-ever-wondered-top-usgs-faqs-for-2014/feed/0Seismographs at the U.S. Geological SurveyLava flows on Mauna LoaOilDrillA drill rig in the Permian Basin of West Texas being used to drill a well which will be hydraulically fractured to produce natural gas. A sound control wall can be seen in the rear of the drill pad to reduce the amount of noise reaching surrounding areas. Photo Credit: Hannah Hamilton, USGSWinter is Coming! The Science of Ice and Firehttp://www.usgs.gov/blogs/features/usgs_top_story/winter-is-coming-the-science-of-ice-and-fire/
http://www.usgs.gov/blogs/features/usgs_top_story/winter-is-coming-the-science-of-ice-and-fire/#commentsWed, 17 Dec 2014 23:41:21 +0000Amberhttp://www.usgs.gov/blogs/features/?post_type=usgs_top_story&p=206601“Winter is coming…” – Eddard of House Stark, Lord of Winterfell, Game of Thrones

The HBO series, Game of Thrones, the television adaptation of the book series, A Song of Ice and Fire, has captured the imagination of over 24 million viewers for the last four years. Though the show takes place in the fictional seven kingdoms of Westeros, there are parts of the show that can be paralleled to Earth science today.

The words, winter is coming, used frequently in this fantasy TV show, proclaim that the nine-year summer is over, and winter is literally coming. It also brings the fear of giants, mythological frightening characters and dark magic to the people of Westeros.

As in Game of Thrones, our world is affected by weather and climate.

Winter and Climate Change

Unlike in Westeros, where nine-year summers are possible, the first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere occurs each year on December 21. Earth’s elliptical orbit and natural tilt on its axis cause the annual seasons.

When winter is coming, phenological events – changes in the timing of life-cycle events — are easy to notice. We can see how the outside world changes throughout the year, and now we can document and report the annual environmental trends as the climate changes.

Climate change is affecting our nation in far-reaching ways. Impacts related to climate change are evident across geographic regions and in many sectors important to society—such as human health, agriculture and food security, water supply, transportation, energy, ecosystems, and others. These impacts are expected to become increasingly disruptive throughout this century and beyond.

The White House Climate Action Plan recognizes that even as we act to curb the carbon pollution that helps drive climate change, we must also prepare citizens and communities for the climate impacts that are already underway. The Climate Data Initiative (CDI), part of the Climate Action Plan, is a broad effort to leverage the federal government’s extensive, freely available climate-relevant data resources to stimulate innovation and private-sector entrepreneurship in support of national climate-change preparedness.

Effects of global climate change are clear in Glacier National Park, MT, where glaciers are shrinking and many have already disappeared. Shrinking glaciers reflect changes in temperature and precipitation. Scientists estimate there were approximately 150 glaciers in the park in1850; most of them were still present in 1910 when the park was established.

In 2010, the USGS concluded there were only 25 glaciers larger than 25 acres remaining in the park. A computer-based climate model predicts that some of the park’s largest glaciers will vanish by 2030. This is only one model of prediction but, if true, then the park’s glaciers could disappear in the next several decades. However, glacier disappearance could occur even earlier, as many of the glaciers are retreating faster than their predicted rates.

This ship-deck-based August 1980 photograph of Muir Glacier and Muir Inlet, Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, St. Elias Mountains, Alaska, shows the nearly 200-ft-high retreating tidewater end of Muir Glacier with part of its face capped by a few angular pinnacles of ice, called séracs. Note the icebergs in the ship’s wake in the lower right side of the photograph. The location of Muir’s terminus is less than a mile from the landward end of Muir Inlet. Photo courtesy of Bruce Molnia, USGS

A wall of fire in southern California. USGS is investigating ways to balance community fire risk management and native habitat conservation as part of the USGS Southern California Wildfire Risk Scenario Project. Image courtesy of Tim Walton, Photo One Productions, CALFIRE. Shared with permission.

Ice and Fire

Ice caps influence the weather and have a direct effect on other aspects of the water cycle. Ice is very white, of course, and since white reflects sunlight (and thus, heat), large ice fields can determine weather patterns. Air temperatures can be higher a mile above ice caps than at the surface, and wind patterns are affected by the presence or absence of ice sheets.

Even though the amount of water locked up in glaciers and ice caps is a small percentage of all water on (and in) the Earth, it represents a large percentage of the world’s total fresh water. Although the amount of water locked up in ice and snow is only about 1.7 percent of all water on Earth, the majority of total fresh water on Earth, about 68.7 percent, is held in ice caps and glaciers.

USGS scientists will never actually study the mythological fire-breathing dragons of House Targaryan, but they do research wildfires in drier parts of the nation throughout the year.

THE STATE SWORD: The Sword is a symbol for the South Carolina Senate and is placed in a cradle on the Senate rostrum whenever the Senate is in session. The current Sword was presented to the Senate on February 20, 1951, as a personal gift to South Carolina by Lord Halifax, former British ambassador to the United States, after learning of the theft of the original sword. The sword is made of steel and gold. The blade is etched with sprigs of yellow jessamine and the State Seal. The hilt has a pommel decorated with rosettes, the grip is wrapped with gold braid and the scabbard is covered in leather with brass fittings.

The cold weather months have a high number of fires, both natural and man-made. USGS fire ecologists found that wildland fires are an important ecosystem process throughout the western United States and elsewhere. In parts of California, fires assist in the evolution of plant life and serve as an ecological regulator; however in desert habitats, fires are less frequent and often more damaging.

As many as 90 percent of wildland fires in the United States are caused by people, primarily through campfires left unattended, burning of debris, negligently discarded cigarettes, and intentional acts of arson. The USGS provides tools and information before, during, and after fire disasters to identify wildfire risks and reduce subsequent hazards, including delivery to fire managers of up-to-the minute maps and satellite imagery about current wildfire extent and behavior.

“Valyrian” Steel

In the fictional world of Westeros, the greatest swords are forged from Valyrian steel, a metal that is exceptionally sharp, strong, and lightweight.

Valyrian steel swords are similar in design and composition to Damascus steel blades, a Middle Eastern design. Though Damascus steel went out of production circa 1750, similar steel is still used today when crafting blades.

The element iron is one of the most abundant on earth, but it does not occur in nature in a readily useful metallic form. Iron ore is the term applied to a natural iron-bearing mineral in which the content of iron is sufficient to be commercially usable. Metallic iron, from which steel is derived, must be extracted from iron ore.

Steel, an alloy of metallic iron and carbon, is one of the commodities that the USGS Minerals Resources Program tracks each year. Last year, the iron and steel industry produced goods valued at an estimated $116 billion.

Iron and steel comprise about 95 percent of all the tonnage of metal produced annually in the United States and the world. On average, iron and steel are by far the least expensive of the world’s metals. In some applications, such as steel framing for large buildings, no other materials are suitable to meet strength requirements.

Obsidian, or volcanic glass, from Napa Glass Mountain.

There are also other natural materials that can be used to produce strong and sharp blades. Since the Stone Age, humans have used obsidian to make sharp blades and arrowheads, because it can be fractured and shaped into useful tools and weapons­. In Game of Thrones a fictional ancient dragon glass is used to make the only blade that can kill the White Walkers, an odd species of humanoids that exist in the north of Westeros.

Obsidian is dense volcanic glass, usually rhyolite (thick and rich in silica) in composition and typically black in color. Obsidian forms in lava flows where the lava cools too fast for crystals to grow. Today obsidian is sometimes used to produce surgical scalpel blades.

The Science of Ice and Fire

USGS scientists are committed to understanding the real science of ice and fire. For those who watch Game of Thrones, there are, indeed, parts of the show that can be paralleled to Earth science today.

Wreath in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington National Cemetery.

At the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month, President Woodrow Wilson and the Allies signed the Armistice concluding World War I in 1918.

Each year on November 11th we honor those veterans who served in World War I and all other American wars in a commemoration called, “Veteran’s Day.”

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was unveiled on April 9, 1931, although the remains of an unknown U.S. soldier from World War I were laid to rest at the location a decade earlier. The tomb commemorates the services of an unknown soldier and to the common memories of all soldiers killed in any war.

Five years ago, the USGS was asked by John C. Metzler, the previous superintendent of the Arlington National Cemetery, to study the original marble used in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, as well as a potential marble block that might be used as a replacement at some point in the future. USGS recently completed an analysis on the integrity of the marble at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.

Crack across the north elevation of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington National Cemetery. Courtesy: John Metzler

The Marble

Marble for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery was cut from the Colorado Yule Marble Quarry in 1931. Yule marble is quarried outside the town of Marble in central Colorado and is named for George Yule, a mining engineer who discovered and realized the value of the marble deposit in 1873.

The Cracks

Although anecdotal reports suggest that cracks were noticed in the main section of the monument shortly after its installation, a report in 1963 first documented the occurrence of cracks in the tomb monument, though the cracks probably existed well before that date. At that time, in anticipation of the permanent closing of the Yule Quarry, Mr. John S. Haines of Colorado decided it would be prudent to reserve a suitable block of replacement marble from the same quarry, if needed in the future.

As the cracks have continually grown, now reaching around the entire Tomb, debate also continues as to the cause of the cracks and strategies for dealing with the cracked monument. Then, 41 years after Haines’ donation, a 58-ton block of Yule Marble was extracted from the quarry. The so-called “Haines block” can serve as a potential backup for the Tomb if the cracks should need to be repaired or replaced.

Photographs showing cracks on the southeast and northeast corners of the tomb maximal widths of the fractures are approximately 4mm. (Ruler width, 11mm).

The Haines Block

When the Haines block was cut from the quarry in 2004, exceptional practices were followed in the removal and transport of the block to minimize physical impacts that might trigger structural defects. The Haines block has not yet been transported to Arlington, and remains just outside the quarry.

The brief USGS study was conducted during mid-summer 2009 at the behest of the superintendent of Arlington National Cemetery. A team of USGS scientists entered the subterranean Yule Marble Quarry to contrast the method used for extraction of the Haines block with the method that was probably used to extract the original marble block that is now cracked.

Photograph of the Haines block at its present location near the Yule Marble Quarry

Based on surficial inspection and shallow coring of the Haines block, and on the nature of cracking in Yule Marble as judged by close inspection of a large collection of surrogate Yule Marble blocks, the team found the donated block to be structurally sound and cosmetically equivalent to the marble used for the current monument. If the Haines block is needed in the future, it would be an appropriate replacement.

Yule Marble and the Minerals in the Parks

Colorado Yule marble is praised as one of the purest marbles ever quarried and cited as a rival to the Italian and Greek marbles of classic fame. It is nearly pure calcite marble with minor inclusions of mica, quartz, and feldspar. Like the Tomb, Yule marble is used for many other memorials, including the Lincoln Memorial.

Armed servicemen in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington National Cemetery.

The Minerals Yearbook is organized into metals reports, for all of the everyday appliances people use, as well as domestic and international area reports in order to know what minerals people will come across when they travel and where they live.

]]>http://www.usgs.gov/blogs/features/usgs_top_story/monumental-minerals/feed/0Unknown SoldierCrackCrack across the north elevation of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington National Cemetery.CracksPhotographs showing cracks on the southeast and northeast corners of the tomb maximal widths of the fractures are approximately 4mm. (Ruler width, 11mm).HainesPhotograph of the Haines block at its present location near the Yule Marble QuarryservicemenThe “Elements” of the Holidayshttp://www.usgs.gov/blogs/features/usgs_top_story/the-elements-of-the-holidays/
http://www.usgs.gov/blogs/features/usgs_top_story/the-elements-of-the-holidays/#commentsFri, 24 Oct 2014 13:00:49 +0000Scott Horvathhttp://www.usgs.gov/blogs/features/?post_type=usgs_top_story&p=207121Read more]]>The winter holiday season is full of color and sound. There are bells, toys, lights, and gifts. These are the some of the elements of the holidays. And much like Santa keeps track of good girls and boys, USGS analysts in the National Minerals Information Center track the minerals from around the world used in toys, lights, computers, and the many other things we use every day.

Got coal?

Sharpened pencil

Actually, coal is not an element, though it may be considered an element of the holidays for naughty girls and boys. Coal is a sedimentary rock, made predominantly of carbon that can be burned for fuel.

Coal formed when prehistoric forests and marshes were buried and compressed over millions of years. As time went on, the plant material was compressed from overlying rock units resulting in solid coal deposits.

Carbon is not just for lumps of coal in your stocking; there are those “Naughty” and “Nice” lists too. Santa probably uses graphite pencils to write his lists each year. Graphite is a soft form of carbon that is gray to black in color, with a metallic luster. Graphite occurs naturally and is found in rocks such as marble, schist, and gneiss.

Lighting up the holidays

What would the holidays be without the colored lights? The reds, the blues, the greens and yellows? Minerals and metals are used to make the lights that make our holidays bright. For example, aluminum, copper, feldspar, lime, manganese, nickel, nitrogen, quartz, salt, soda ash and tungsten are some of the mineral materials used in the construction of a light bulb. These minerals come from all over the world to brighten the season.

But what about those colors, you ask? The glass is coated with a variety of mineral compounds, like cadmium sulfide or the combination of cerium oxide and titanium dioxide for yellow; cuprous oxide or gold chloride for ruby red; cobalt oxide for blue-violet; manganese dioxide for amethyst-purple; neodymium oxide or nickel oxide for violet; sulfur for yellow-amber; uranium for fluorescent green; or chromic oxide for yellow-green or emerald-green.

Older Christmas tree lights and older electric menorahs were frequently made using tungsten filaments. The tungsten bulbs are slowly being replaced by light emitting diode bulbs that contain rare earth phosphors — various metals such as gallium, gold, silver, in the circuitry.

All that glitters

Silver

Decorating can mean more than lights. For those who choose a tree, they may enter into the debate of whether or not to add tinsel. Tinsel used to be made of lead, then silver, but it is now made of aluminized plastic. Silver has been used for thousands of years as ornaments and utensils, for trade, and the basis for many monetary systems. Gold is another common element of the holidays, treasured since ancient times for its beauty and permanence. Today, most gold goes into the manufacture of jewelry. It is also used in computers, spacecraft, and jet engines.

Jingle bells and a sugary treat

Copper, with an ink pen to show scale.

Bells toll during the holidays conducting the sounds of the season, made of cast metals such as copper, bronze and tin. Copper is one of the oldest metals ever used and has been one of the important materials in the development of civilization. Bronze is an alloy made primarily of copper and other metals. Tin is one of the earliest metals known and used. Because of its hardening effect on copper, tin was used in bronze implements as early as 3,500 B.C., although the pure metal was not used until about 600 B.C. About 20 countries mine tin throughout the world.

Chocolate coins are a common gift given by those celebrating Hanukkah. The sugary treat is wrapped in the second most abundant metal on earth after silicon: aluminum. Not just for boats, appliances and soda cans, this lightweight easy to draw and mold metal is up for repeated use. It is also found in mirrors and power lines.

Powering the holidays

Speaking of power, our holidays are energized thanks to minerals like cadmium, cobalt, lithium and nickel. Soft as butter, cadmium was discovered in Germany in 1817 and is today used in cell phones, power tools, cameras and laptop computers. Cobalt is used for making rechargeable battery electrodes as well as dyes and pigments.

Lithium is the lightest element that is solid at room temperature; has the greatest energy potential of any solid; and has the highest electrochemical potential of any metal. These factors make lithium batteries lighter, more powerful, and last longer per charge than any other battery.

If you unwrap a cell phone this holiday season, it will be one of about six billion cell phones in the world, that’s about as many as there are people in the world. Most of cell phones are powered by a lithium battery and most smart phones contain gallium-arsenide chips

Nickel is not just for 5 cent pieces, but when combined with cadmium is used to make rechargeable batteries. It is also used in producing stainless steel. Nickel was formed in a supernova explosion and is the fifth most common element on earth.

Down the chimney and away

Clay

Clay bricks and cement are used to construct many of the chimneys Santa descends each year. For example, “down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound” wouldn’t be possible without all the wonderful brick chimneys, the brick being made using common clay and fire clay. Cement and industrial sand are used in the mortar to hold the bricks together. The fire box of the chimney is lined with firebricks made using fire clay and the chimneys are usually lined with flue tile, made using common clay and/or fire clay. Six types of clays are mined in the United States, and 15 types are known worldwide.

Plus, an all-time favorite holiday present, the Chia Pet, is terra cotta, made using common clay.

As you wrap, or unwrap, gifts exchanged with friends and loved ones, remember the minerals that give them color, sound and energy. No matter what holiday you celebrate this time of year, or whether you celebrate a holiday at all, learning about minerals is fun. Learn where they come from, and how they are used. For more information visit the National Minerals Information Center website.

Happy Holidays!

]]>http://www.usgs.gov/blogs/features/usgs_top_story/the-elements-of-the-holidays/feed/0Sharpened pencilSharpened pencilSilverSilverCopperCopper, with an ink pen to show scale.ClayClayThe Elements of a Dazzling Fourth of Julyhttp://www.usgs.gov/blogs/features/usgs_top_story/the-elements-of-a-dazzling-fourth-of-july/
http://www.usgs.gov/blogs/features/usgs_top_story/the-elements-of-a-dazzling-fourth-of-july/#commentsThu, 03 Jul 2014 16:49:43 +0000anewmanhttp://www.usgs.gov/blogs/features/?post_type=usgs_top_story&p=199101Read more]]>The minerals that produce the brilliant colors in fireworks also bring water and electricity to your home, help to produce the vehicles and fuel needed for travel, and have many other every day uses.

Red Fireworks and Strontium—Strontium gives a brilliant red hue to fireworks and to the flares you might be toting in your car in case of roadside emergencies. Strontium is produced most notably from the mineral celestite. Strontium is used in drilling fluids to produce oil and gas; it also strengthens metal castings in airplanes and cars, and makes paints that resist corrosion.

Although strontium is common in the Earth’s crust and strontium mineral deposits occur widely in our nation, strontium minerals have not been mined in the United States since 1959. Imports of celestite have increased every year since 2010 and increased dramatically in 2013, with virtually all of the material coming from Mexico. More details are found here.

Blue Fireworks and Copper — Copper turns fireworks a dazzling blue. Copper occurs naturally in the Earth’s crust in a variety of forms, most commonly it is found with sulfur as the mineral chalcopyrite. Azurite and malachite are common copper minerals known for their blue and green colors. Copper can also be found as pure “native” copper.

Sample of native copper.

Copper was one of the first metals ever extracted and used by humans; in fact copper tools helped civilization emerge from the Stone Age.

The demand for copper remains strong in the developed world where copper wiring and plumbing bring water and electricity into nearly every home and building. It takes more than 40 pounds of copper to produce a small car, and nearly 100 pounds for luxury and hybrid vehicles. Copper is also essential in modern electronics.

The developing world now accounts for most of global copper consumption growth. China accounts for about 40% of global consumption, up from only about 20% in 2005.

The USGS recently estimated that the Earth still contains enough copper to support the projected growth in demand beyond 2050, given current technology and economics.

Recycling will be an important source of future copper supplies. Details on the recent assessment are found here. General information on the link between copper and advancements in civilization are found here. Production, use, and recycling facts are found here.

Green Fireworks and Barium—Barium nitrate and chlorate produce bright green fireworks.
Barium is a metallic element that is not found in nature in its native form. It occurs principally as the mineral barite (barium sulfate), and its dominant use is in oil well drilling fluids. Barite is also used in making paints, plastic, and rubber. Your car’s brakes, paint primer, and rubber mudflaps might contain barite. Ultrapure barite is used as a contrast medium in medical x-rays.

Sample of the mineral barite (barium sulfate) .

The United States imports about 75 percent of the barite it uses, and more than 85 percent of those imports come from China. The world is estimated to contain 2 billion metric tons of barite; of that total, the United States has an estimated 300 million metric tons.

Barium is geologically abundant, but future supplies may be disrupted in the short term by social, environmental, political and economic factors resulting from heavy reliance on limited sources.

Golden Sparks and Iron—Iron filings produce the golden sparks that shower out of a main fireworks explosion. Iron is one of the most abundant elements on Earth, but it does not occur naturally in the Earth’s crust in native form (Fe). It is found only in ores, principally hematite (Fe2O3) and magnetite (Fe3O4). By definition, steel is iron with a small amount of carbon. Heat and carbon are used to remove oxygen from iron ore to produce metallic iron required to make steel. More information is found here.

Thousands of products are made of steel. In some applications no other materials are suitable, such as steel framing for large buildings, because of strength requirements. Iron and steel are central to supporting industrial economies worldwide. More information is found here.

U.S. resources are estimated to be about 27 billion tons of iron contained within 110 billion tons of iron ore. World resources are estimated to exceed 230 billion tons of iron contained within greater than 800 billion tons of crude ore. More information is found here.

Bright Flashes and Aluminum—Bright flashes and loud bangs in fireworks come from aluminum powder. Aluminum is the second most abundant metallic element in the Earth’s crust after silicon, yet it is a comparatively new industrial metal that has been produced in commercial quantities for just over 100 years.

Measured either in quantity or value, aluminum’s use exceeds that of any other metal except iron, and it is important in virtually all segments of the world economy.

Aluminum recovery from scrap (recycling) has become an important component of the aluminum industry. More information is found here.

Other firework facts—Yellow fireworks result when sodium nitrate burns. The largest deposits of natural sodium nitrate are found in sedimentary rocks in the Atacama Desert of South America. Sodium nitrate is also used to produce fertilizer.

Other firework colors can be made my mixing elements; strontium and sodium produce brilliant orange; titanium, zirconium, and magnesium alloys make silvery white; copper and strontium make lavender.

Minerals that add color to fireworks and make the July 4 festive also benefit us in our everyday lives.

The USGS Mineral Resources Program delivers unbiased science and information to understand mineral resource potential, production, consumption, and how minerals interact with the environment.

The USGS collects, analyzes, and disseminates current information on the supply of and the demand for about 90 minerals and materials in the United States and about 180 other countries.

]]>http://www.usgs.gov/blogs/features/usgs_top_story/the-elements-of-a-dazzling-fourth-of-july/feed/0celestiteCopperBarite RoseAluminum MetalGetting the Dirt on Soilhttp://www.usgs.gov/blogs/features/usgs_top_story/getting-the-dirt-on-soil/
http://www.usgs.gov/blogs/features/usgs_top_story/getting-the-dirt-on-soil/#commentsWed, 21 May 2014 14:30:02 +0000anewmanhttp://www.usgs.gov/blogs/features/?post_type=usgs_top_story&p=196281Read more]]>The U.S. Geological Survey has released a set of maps depicting the distribution of selected chemical elements and minerals in soils across the country.

Understanding the composition of soil is important for a variety of reasons. Specialists in agriculture and food safety find soil data useful because soil is the source of most biologically active trace elements that reach humans through the food chain. Public health specialists need to understand soil pathways for human exposure to potentially toxic elements. Regulators and resource managers use soil data to identify contamination, assess the risks to ecosystems and human health from contamination, and to set remediation goals. The maps and data sets serve as a starting point for future research in a variety of fields.

Sample map: Note higher lead levels in the northeastern U.S.

Why Soils?

Soils play a key role for the Earth’s life support system in a number of ways such as determining human health and ecosystem integrity. They are required for supporting food production and needed for water storage and groundwater recharge. Soils are critical in the natural cycling of carbon and essential nutrients.

According to Dave Smith, the USGS scientist who led this project, “These data and maps are not designed to provide detailed soil information about what might be in your backyard. Rather they put your backyard into a national context so you can know the general range of element concentrations that are in soils from your part of the country.”

This USGS project delineates national-scale patterns and variations in elemental composition for soils. This new study provides a more complete understanding of natural variability for the nation’s soils than has ever been available.

The Details are in the Dirt

To produce the maps, about 40 people collected thousands of soil samples from more than 4,800 sites throughout the conterminous U.S. from 2007 to 2010. For each site, they collected three samples from the surface down to about three feet. In total, scientists analyzed more than 14,000 soil samples for 45 elements and nearly 10,000 samples for major minerals.

Locations of more than 4,800 sites where crews collected soil samples.

The USGS data sets for soil geochemistry and mineralogy provide a baseline for the amount and distribution of chemical elements and minerals against which scientists can measure future changes from natural processes or human activities.

Humans dispose of unwanted wastes from households, agricultural operations, and industrial processes into soil. It is not possible to recognize and quantify the effect of human activities on soils without understanding natural variability.

Sourcing the Samples

It takes a lot more than just digging holes to gather soil from thousands of sites across the lower 48 states. In the nationwide sampling effort, the USGS enlisted help from state geological surveys, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, and 19 students from 12 universities who participated from 2008–2010. The sampling crews had flexibility at each site with the general guidance being that no samples be taken within 200 meters of a major highway, within 100 meters of a building or structure, within 50 meters of a rural road and no less than 5 kilometers downwind of any power plants or stack emitters.

Soil material from Delmarva Peninsula

Kevin Bamber was an undergraduate student at University of Missouri in 2008 when he signed on to help the USGS with the project for two summers. “I have been in and out of every rural part of Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, Louisiana, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Idaho and Montana,” he said.

Field crews not only learned about water retention for soils or that the magic depth for septic systems is three feet, they also interacted with a wide menagerie of property owners and animals.

Once they were in the field, crews had to contact the landowner and obtain permission to collect samples. Crews didn’t collect any samples from private land without first obtaining permission.

“The vast majority of landowners were happy to cooperate with our project. We could not have successfully completed this project without this cooperation,” said Smith.

Still, this wasn’t an easy task. “Knocking on doors and dealing with landowners was the hardest part of the job,” Bamber said. “A lot of times we had to explain the project. Most of the land is privately owned and I had to go as close as I could to the pre-selected target site. The responses were all over the place. It helped me develop interpersonal skills.”

Some of the property owners that the students encountered are unforgettable, Bamber said. “A woman and her brother in northeast Mississippi lived on a small lot with a few trailers. The woman said, ‘Don’t dig there because that’s where the dogs are buried’ and ‘there’s a snake pit in the woods.’”

Bamber also learned local folklore. “A guy in Louisiana said we could dig on his property because it was a full moon and that anytime you dig a hole when there’s a full moon, you always have more than enough dirt to fill the hole. We really picked the right day.”

Bamber examines soil sample

The back roads of Idaho would prove to be more treacherous. “I got stuck in a national forest for 12 hours,” Bamber admits sheepishly. “In 2009, it was a wet year. We got high-centered on the road and we were stuck at 8:00 at night. We called the Bonneville County sheriff and gave them coordinates but they were 15 miles away in the wrong direction. We slept in the truck. The next morning they showed up with a helicopter and pulled us out.”

Despite his ordeals, Bamber, currently pursuing a Master’s degree in soil science at Virginia Tech, says he has no regrets. “It was great, easily my best working experience ever. It’s really helped all around.”

Start with Science

Although soil is important, the body of knowledge about the concentration and spatial distribution of naturally occurring elements in the soils of North America is remarkably limited. Prior to the current study, the best national-scale data set for soil geochemistry was a USGS study in the 1960s and 1970s that used analytical methods that are now outdated and inappropriate for environmental studies. The results of this new effort provide the most precise estimate of the geochemical variability of the nation’s soils that has ever been available and open the door for to future research about a valuable natural resource.

]]>http://www.usgs.gov/blogs/features/usgs_top_story/getting-the-dirt-on-soil/feed/0Fig 2 Lead Sample MapSample map: Note higher lead levels in the northeastern U.S.Fig 3 Map 4800 SitesLocations of more than 4,800 sites where crews collected soil samples.DelPeninSoil material from Delmarva PeninsulaBamberSoilBamber examines soil sampleapdemasapdemasapdemasapdemasapdemasapdemasapdemasapdemasapdemasOlympics 2014: Let the Science Begin!http://www.usgs.gov/blogs/features/usgs_top_story/olympics-2014-let-the-science-begin/
http://www.usgs.gov/blogs/features/usgs_top_story/olympics-2014-let-the-science-begin/#commentsTue, 04 Feb 2014 14:42:40 +0000anewmanhttp://www.usgs.gov/blogs/features/?post_type=usgs_top_story&p=190401Read more]]>The 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia will be featuring many exciting events for the world to see. Though the Olympics Games is the premier athletic competition worldwide, the games also bridge the gap between science and sports by covering a number of Earth science topics as well.

The Arctic Ocean is capped by a dynamic layer of sea ice that grows each winter and shrinks each summer, reaching its yearly minimum extent each fall. NASA’s Aqua satellite used microwaves to capture this snapshot of Arctic sea ice on September 3, 2010. The yearly minimum had not yet been reached, but past history says the low point should occur sometime in mid-September. Perhaps what is most striking in this picture is the extent of the Greenland icecap—almost the whole island is overlain by a huge and deep (almost three miles deep in places) sheet of ice. The Greenland icecap averages almost a mile in thickness and contains about 10 percent of the total ice mass on the globe.

Water Usage in the Rink

The opening ceremonies, along with the indoor events: ice hockey, figure skating, short track speed skating, curling, speed skating, and ice dancing will occur in seven arenas making up the “Coastal Cluster” of Olympic Park.

The U.S. Geological Survey compiles water use statistics every five years and hopes to build towards a National Water Census. But how much water is used to build an Olympic ice skating rink and how does that compare to domestic water use?

According to How Stuff Works, an ice hockey rink needs between 12,000-15,000 gallons of water to create the ice surface before maintenance over the Olympic festivities. In the United States, the average person uses 54-190 gallons of water per day depending on where they live.

Climate and Land Use Change: Withdrawing from the Snowbank

As the earth’s climate has warmed over recent decades, the amount of winter precipitation that falls as snow and accumulates as snowpack has changed substantially. Many regions have experienced more precipitation falling as rain rather than snow, with enhanced spring warming increasing rates of snowmelt resulting in reduced winter snowpack and earlier meltout.

The USGS has studied changes in accumulated snowpack and snowcover in the western U.S. and Alaska, along with the closely related melting of perennial icefields and glaciers, changes in water resources, and the earlier onset of spring. These studies place recent changes within the context of the past century, and in several cases millennia, and indicate recent rates and spatial patterns of change are unusual relative to the past. This suite of climate driven changes to snow, ice, and water resources documented as occurring throughout the U.S. exemplifies broader global patterns, and now plays an important role in planning for the outdoor events of the Olympic Games. Obviously, both snow quantity and quality can and do have a major effect on athletes competing in skiing competitions.

Last year in Sochi, Russia, the extremely low winter snowpack caused concern for this year’s Olympic Games. Similarly to the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada, snowbanks have been set up in Sochi to preserve last year’s snow for the games. After the snowfall in 2013, roughly 28 million cubic feet of natural and artificial snow was moved into massive piles and covered with reflective and thick blankets to reduce melting.

If there is not enough snowfall for all of the outdoor events for the 2014 games, workers will be able to produce more artificial snow from the 446 snow guns positioned along the ski runs, and withdraw from the snowbank.

Olympic Minerals

Stone, wood, clay, copper, bronze, and iron were known to the ancient Greeks in 776 BC, the year recorded as that of the first Olympic Games. But the quantity and variety of minerals that have come into use since the first games have grown dramatically.

Today, the minerals we use include nearly every element on the periodic table. Minerals are critical to the Games including the fireworks during opening and closing ceremonies, transportation systems, venues, Olympic Village, power, lighting, communications systems, sports equipment, food, and even the medals worn by the athletes and the mobile devices they use during the Games all contain minerals.

The USGS provides scientific information about where mineral resources are known and suspected in the Earth’s crust. Each year, the USGS publishes the earliest government estimates of global mineral production and consumption data and trends for more than 90 individual non-fuel mineral commodities and materials. The 2014 USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries is expected to be available online by late February.

In the meantime here are some amazing Olympic mineral facts:

Color is a clue about composition: Gold v. Silver

The Olympic Torch

The Medals

Originally wood, but it is now high tech, with an aluminum body and inside fittings of steel, copper, and polymers. According to the organizers, 14,000 torches have been produced for the 2014 Sochi Olympics. The torches were made to burn reliably in the extreme cold and winds of a Russian winter.

Olive-leaf wreaths served as the prize to winners in the ancient games. At Sochi, a record 1,300 medals will be issued for the Olympic and Paralympic games, according to organizers. Each Gold Medal will contain gold and silver, each Silver Medal will contain silver, and each Bronze Medal will contain bronze produced from copper, tin, and zinc.

Sports Equipment

Communications Technology

Equipment used in Winter Olympic events was formerly composed almost entirely of wood and steel. Today, aluminum, fiberglass, mineral-based fibers, and specialty steel alloys are used as well. Ice skates have chrome-plated, carbon-steel blades. Skis are aluminum, titanium, carbon-fiber, and boron-fiber base, with tungsten alloy balance weights. Boots are made from ceramic fibers (aluminum, clay, lithium, silica, tin, titanium, and zircon) and steel. Ski lift cables are made of alloy steel and cars contain aluminum and steel. Sled runners in skeleton and luge are made of steel. Biathlon rifles use a nitride-steel or stainless steel barrel.

Televisions, computers, cell phones and other handheld electronics, use aluminum, copper, gold, palladium, platinum, silver, and tungsten. What lights up the screen on most of these devices and the dash board in modern cars? Energy-efficient LED lighting: gallium, germanium, indium, and rare-earth elements.

Geothermal Energy Use in the Olympic Games

Russia and the IOC have announced that the Sochi Games will be carbon-neutral, which, among other ways, will be achieved by investing in renewable energy sources like geothermal energy. Geothermal energy comes from the natural heat of the interior of the Earth. People have benefited from geothermal since the days of the original Olympic Games, such as in hot springs and bath houses used by the Greeks and Romans alike.

Today, geothermal energy is primarily used for electricity generation. USGS studies geothermal and, in 2008, released an assessment estimating that more than nine gigawatts of electrical power could be generated from identified systems in 13 Western states alone. For comparison, one megawatt of electric power would supply the needs of about 750 homes.

A view of Akutan Volcano from station AKGG. Photo courtesy of Plucinski, Tim.

Beyond the Competition

The Olympic Games not only bring the world’s greatest athletes together on the international stage, but create economic opportunities for host nations, establish channels for foreign policy discussions, and facilitated learning experiences for the viewers.

Did you know that the Sochi Games will be the first Winter Games in the history of the Olympics to be held in a subtropical climate?

The above graph shows the percent reliance of the United States on foreign sources for 61 mineral commodities.

As the holiday season continues, people flock to the stores to purchase those special gifts for the ones they love. Perhaps this year, a special someone in your life deserves a gift that is both precious and rare. In fact, maybe that special someone believes it is “critical” that you do.

Platinum is great for both him and her; a precious metal used in the most expensive jewelry you can buy, but also a key component in the fanciest gadgets and electronics in entertainment today. This critical mineral also plays an essential role in both the health of the economy, as well as defense operations.

Breaks in the supply chain have long been a concern of Government and industry. Ensuring the supply of critical materials, especially those essential to maintain a strong economy and national defense, is an essential part of the Government’s work.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is the principal Federal provider of research and information on nonfuel mineral resources, and the information it provides is central to the Government’s ability to respond strategically to interruptions in supply. The USGS searches for new mineral resources and keeps track of what countries and companies are using existing mineral resources and how the minerals are being used. For instance, in 2013, the United States was 100 percent dependent on foreign suppliers for 17 mineral commodities and more than 50 percent dependent on foreign sources for at least 24 other mineral commodities.

All mineral commodities are important to someone or they wouldn’t be produced. So what makes a mineral “critical” and/or “strategic?” These two terms are often used together and sometimes interchangeably.

Criticality to some extent is determined by the industrial and commercial uses of the raw materials. Although currently no U.S. Government-wide definition exists, broadly speaking, if a vital sector of the economy requires a mineral in order to function, that mineral would likely be deemed “critical.” On the other hand, when viewed from a national perspective, a strategic mineral may be defined as one that is important to the Nation’s economy, particularly for defense issues; doesn’t have many replacements; and primarily comes from foreign countries. Usually, the term implies a nation’s perception of vulnerability to supply disruptions, and of a need to safeguard its industries from repercussions of a loss of supplies. Disruptions in supply can take place for a number of reasons, such as natural disasters, civil wars, and labor strikes.

What minerals are deemed to be “critical and strategic” thus necessarily changes over time. In 1803, when sending Lewis and Clark on the expedition to survey lands acquired in the Louisiana Purchase, for example, President Thomas Jefferson instructed Captain Meriwether Lewis to take note of “mineral productions of every kind; but more particularly metals, limestone, pit coal, & saltpetre [sic].” Two centuries later, things have changed significantly, and the list has become more complex. Early computers, for instance, needed less than ten different mineral components. Now, just smartphones and tablets need dozens. The list can vary over time too. Rare-earth elements (REEs), which are among those minerals that are considered most critical today, have been added to the list only within the past decade.

Principal rare earth elements districts in the United States.

Why Rare-Earth Elements?

Rare-earth elements are necessary components of more than 200 products across a wide range of applications, especially high-tech consumer products, such as cellular telephones, computer hard drives, electric and hybrid vehicles, and flat-screen monitors and televisions. Significant defense applications include electronic displays, guidance systems, lasers, and radar and sonar systems.

Although the amount of REE used in a product may not be a significant part of that product by weight, value, or volume, the REE can be necessary for the device to function. For example, magnets made of REE often represent only a small fraction of the total weight, but without them, the spindle motors and voice coils of desktops and laptops would not be possible.

In 1993, 38 percent of world production of REEs was in China, 33 percent was in the United States, 12 percent was in Australia, and five percent each was in Malaysia and India. Several other countries, including Brazil, Canada, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, made up the remainder. However, in 2008, China accounted for more than 90 percent of world production of REEs, and by 2011, China accounted for 97 percent of world production.

Beginning in 1990 and beyond, supplies of REEs became an issue as the Government of China began to change the amount of the REEs that it allows to be produced and exported. The Chinese Government also began to limit the number of Chinese and Sino-foreign joint-venture companies that could export REEs from China.

Other Critical Minerals

Rare earth elements are hardly the only critical minerals. They’re not even the only minerals critical to the high-end technology sector. Another mineral vital to the functioning of your smart phone is gallium, a soft, silvery metal. Without gallium, the semiconductors that power smartphones and data-centric networks would not be possible. Unlike rare earths, gallium is not a common metal in the Earth’s crust, but it does occur regularly alongside aluminum in a mineral known as bauxite. One of gallium’s other claims to fame is that it has such a low melting point that it will melt if held in your hand.

Another critical mineral is manganese, which is an important metal alloying ingredient. Without manganese, stainless steel would not be possible. In addition, it helps other metals resist rust and corrosion, such as iron and aluminum. Manganese is a fairly common element in the Earth’s crust, and exists in many concentrations easily mineable.

The Role of USGS

The USGS is the primary scientific resource for the U.S. Government as well as U.S. industry to monitor the status of critical minerals to prevent supply disruption. In 2010, the USGS completed an inventory of domestic rare-earth reserves and resources to enhance the Government’s ability to respond to the potential shortage of REEs. The primary U.S. source for REEs is the Mountain Pass mine in California, and advanced exploration projects for new REE deposits are underway at Bokan Mountain, AK, and Bear Lodge, WY.

The USGS maintains a workforce of geoscientists with expertise in critical minerals and materials, including REEs. The USGS continuously collects, analyzes, and disseminates data and information on domestic and global REEs reserves and resources, production, consumption, and use. This information is published annually in the USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries, which also includes a description of current events, trends, and issues related to REE supply and demand.

The past has shown that demand for critical and strategic minerals is only going to increase, and as the world becomes more interconnected, ensuring a steady and secure supply for those minerals will remain a vital responsibility for the U.S. Government. USGS will play its part by continuously tracking the global supplies and flow of these minerals, as well as constantly seeking new sources for them.

On the Fourth of July, people all across the country will gather for cookouts and firework shows commemorating the Nation’s birthday. Here in Washington, DC, more than half a million people are expected to gather for the annual pyrotechnic extravaganza on the National Mall. Fireworks shows feature spectacular colors, shapes and special effects that would not be possible without minerals! The same minerals that hold up buildings, power smart phones, and provide essential nutrients are the same ones that light up the sky on the Fourth of July.

Here are a few examples of minerals and the colors they produce in fireworks:

A sample of celestite, a common source of strontium, and a red firework. Firework image credit Wikimedia Commons.

Red Fireworks & Strontium—Named for the Scottish village of Strontian, strontium gives red fireworks their deep hue. These fireworks burn a compound known as strontium nitrate, which turns a brilliant red. Strontium’s other main use these days is in ferrite magnets.

A blue firework and a sample of native copper, the element that gives blue fireworks their color. Firework image credit Wikimedia Commons.

Yellow Fireworks & Sodium—it’s not just an essential nutrient; sodium is a vital part of your Fourth of July fireworks celebration too! Those exploding suns in the sky that rain a cascade of yellow are burning sodium nitrate.

A green-hued firework and a sample of the mineral barite, a common source of barium. Firework image credit Wikimedia Commons.

Iron filings give fireworks like this one their gold spark effects. Both images credit Wikimedia Commons.

Golden Sparks & Iron—It’s not just the colors that enthrall us at firework shows, it’s the effects too! One of the most common is a cataract of golden sparks, showering down from the main explosion. Those little golden sparks are formed from iron filings, the same things used in your science class to show the direction of a magnetic field.

Brilliant fireworks displays are greatly enhanced thanks to minerals. While enjoying the shows all across the Nation this Fourth, remember to be safe and leave the making of fireworks to the professionals.

And for those coming to Washington DC for the show, check out the majestic monuments that surround the National Mall and read up on where those iconic stones came from.